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Setting up An Accountability Partnership

Guest post by: Denise Griffitts

Article Overview: Before you jump right in and ask your best friend to be your accountability partner for the rest of your natural-born life, there are several questions you want to ask yourself before committing to a long-term relationship. These questions will help you figure out what you want in an accountability relationship. Take your time thinking through your answers; the only mistake you can make is to jump in too fast and commit to something that’s not right.

Setting up An Accountability Partnership

Before you jump right in and ask your best friend to be your accountability partner for the rest of your natural-born life, there are several questions you want to ask yourself before committing to a long-term relationship. These questions will help you figure out what you want in an accountability relationship. Take your time thinking through your answers; the only mistake you can make is to jump in too fast and commit to something that's not right.

1. Where are you in your business?
   
   Different business stages require different support. Do you need someone to brainstorm ideas? To cheer you on? To check in with to see if you've accomplished your weekly goals? Or to remind you of what your priorities need to be? Different goals might call for different personality types.
2. What timeframe are you looking at?
   
   Do you want someone to accompany you to the next stage of your business (for instance, until you get your product launched), or are you looking for someone to work with for the next quarter as you see how far you get? An accountability partnership will change over time, so plan to reassess the relationship regularly. Don't start one and assume you'll continue the formal relationship forever. Most will eventually run their course.
3. Who do you know?
   
   Based on your needs in Question #1, do you have someone in mind for your partner, or are you starting from scratch? What resources (networking groups, online forums, etc.) do you have for finding a partner?
4. How much can you commit?
   
   Partnerships are two-way streets, where you give your partner as much as he or she gives you. What can you offer, time- and resource-wise? Are you willing to offer introductions and advice, or only "atta boy" support? Don't expect to get back much more than you provide.
5. What are your preferences?
   
   Do you want to communicate only by email, or do you want in-person or phone check-ins? Do you want someone who is in a similar industry to you, or would you prefer someone who's in a non-competing field? How often would you like to check in?
   
   Once you've answered these questions, you'll be in a good position to start evaluating potential partners. In the next few sections of this article series we'll discuss some options so you can determine which accountability partnership type will work best for you.

Stay tuned for the rest of this article which has of necessity been broken into a series:

1.Accountability Partners For Internet Marketers

2.Setting up An Accountability Partnership

3.Live and In Person: Setting up an "IRL" Accountability Partner

4.Virtual Accountability Partners

5.Mentoring Partnerships

6.The More the Merrier? Partners versus Groups

7.Five Tips for Great Accountability Partnerships

8.Trouble-shooting Your Accountability Partnership

9.Online Resources For Accountability Partners

10.Next Steps In Your Accountability Partnership

11.Conclusion

Related Articles
  Accountability Partnerships Series Conclusion
  Live and In Person: Setting Up an "IRL" Accountability Partner
  Next Steps In Your Accountability Partnership
  Trouble-shooting Your Accountability Partnership
  Virtual Accountability Partners
  Accountability Mentoring Partnerships
  Five Tips for Great Accountability Partnerships
  Accountability Partners Versus Groups
  Online Resources For Accountability Partners
  Accountability Partners For Internet Marketers
  Values
  How To Make Business Partnerships That Work
  A culture of accountability is the key to business and organisational success
  Sole Trader Business Finance - The facts you need to know
  Business Coaching: 3 Key Questions To Enhance Accountability
  The Partnership Model for Growth and Profit
  Partnerships - Some of the basics
  What Type Of Company Should I set Up UK
  Common Partnership Challenges
  Writing a Partnership Agreement for Joint Ventures

Article Tags: accountability buddies, accountability groups, accountability mentors, accountability partner, partnership
Referred by: http://www.onlinebizu.com



Related Forum Posts
Re: How do you monitor what people say about you in the web? - Setting up Google alerts for your keywords can give updates about your site. Also the publicity you create in the social media sites will do help too
Re: What is Your Favorite Thing About Owning A Business? - 1. Not feeling like I have to get approval for anything. 2. Not feeling like I have to please anyone. 3. Not having to ask permission before I do something. 4. Setting my own hours. 5. Sounding really cool when I tell people I have my own business.
EvanCarmichael.com suggestion - Maybe I missed it but I would like to suggest that a Blog be created to support the Forum. The idea is that in the blog you put in snippets of some of the biggest conversations with a 'read more' link to the forum itself. Setting up the Blog and clipping some conversations onto it wouldn't take very long.
Re: how do I get started with Wordpress blog? - GoDaddy is another hosting company that works in conjunction with WordPress.org and makes set up a snap. For those of you entrepreneurs who are hesitant in setting up a WordPress blog due to time constraints or for whatever reason, I can help you with that. Setting up WordPress blogs is one of the services I provide, as well as maintaining it for you. Contact me for more information.
Re: looking for partner - Partnerships in business can be tricky. Most partnerships fail. Here are a few points to ponder before starting a partnership: - Should have common goal and vision - Level of commitment in business - Expectations from business and each other. - Good sense of self-worth - Financial Position – Have a good experience in related business with strong financial standing I suggest you to go on Google type “Partnership Assessment form” and Partnership Assessment Tool” You find some good results. Further apart from this forum look into on social media and business sites.


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